British Rail Class 387
The Class 387 ''Electrostar'' is an electric multiple unit (EMU) built by Bombardier Transportation for Thameslink (now transferred to Great Northern ), Gatwick Express, c2c and Great Western Railway (GWR), with the first delivered in December 2014. These trains are part of the Electrostar family which also includes classes 357, 375, 376, 377, 378 and 379. History The Class 387 is an evolution of Bombardier’s Electrostar with a higher maximum speed of . Description Class 387/1 The first Class 387/1s were ordered for the Thameslink route, which enabled the existing s to be transferred to Northern Rail for use on the newly electrified Manchester Victoria to Liverpool via Newton-le-Willows route. Thameslink Southern & Great Northern Invitation to Tender Department for Transport 26 September 2013 On behalf of the Department for Transport, Southern issued an OJEU notice in December 2012 with proposals received in January 2013. The invitation to tender for the fleet was released the following month with final offers being submitted by 18 June 2013. Southern announced it had signed a deal with Bombardier on 30 July 2013 for 29 four carriage units.Commuters to benefit from state of the art electric trains Department for Transport 30 July 2013Bombardier Transportation Wins UK Rolling Stock Contract Bombardier Transportation 30 July 2013 The deal also included an option for 140 carriages which have since been taken up with 108 for Gatwick Express and 32 for Great Western Railway. In October 2015, Porterbrook placed a speculative order for 80 carriages. Fifty-six were later leased to Great Western Railway and the remaining 24 to c2c as 387/3s."Porterbrook orders 387s to meet electrification demands" Rail Magazine issue 787 11 November 2015 page 13 Class 387/2 As part of Govia's bid for the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise, 27 four-carriage units were ordered to replace s on the Gatwick Express service, using some of the optional 140 extra carriages.Government welcomes new carriages for the Gatwick Express and Thameslink routes Department for Transport The order was announced in November 2014 with the first units on test in July 2015 and they began to enter service on 29 February 2016. Gatwick Express Class 387/2 EMU on test Railway Gazette 23 July 2015 The deployment was disrupted by unionised drivers refusing to take passengers, claiming that the 12-coach class 387 trains are not covered by their driver only operation agreement which is limited to 10 coaches, and that running them without a conductor would be unsafe. The Safety Critical Role of the guard 2016 RMT PDF download Class 387/3 In April 2016, c2c announced that it would operate six Class 387s until replaced by Class 711s in 2021 Current operations Gatwick Express The Class 387 began to replace the EMUs from mid-2016, until the final train ran on 10 March 2017. The Class 442s were then stored. Great Western Railway The first Great Western Railway unit entered service on 5 September 2016 running between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington in peak hours to relieve congestion on some of the country's most crowded trains. In January 2017 GWR began running a half-hourly Paddington to Hayes and Harlington service using pairs of these 387/1s. On 22 May 2017 Class 387/1 EMUs began operating suburban services between London Paddington and Maidenhead. On 1 January 2018, following further electrification work, Class 387/1 EMUs began operating suburban services between London Paddington and Didcot Parkway, replacing GWR DMUs on these services. Due to electrification being suspended from Didcot Parkway to Oxford, the previous Oxford suburban service from London Paddington was cut back to Didcot Parkway to allow electric trains to operate this service. Oxford is still served by the fast services from London Paddington, and a DMU service from Didcot Parkway. c2c The first c2c Class 387 was delivered in October 2016 and entered service in November 2016. These trains were built primarily as stock units, they were leased out to c2c whom at the time were suffering with overcrowding. The units were leased to them pending delivery of newer rolling stock. They will be replaced by Class 711s in 2021. Great Northern From late 2016, 29 of the Class 387/1s operating on Thameslink were displaced by the delivery of Desiro City units, and were transferred to Great Northern. They operate mostly on the Kings Cross-Cambridge-King's Lynn route, though they can also been seen on other services. These units were delivered in a white livery, with Southern green doors and Southern upholstery. Future operations Heathrow Express In March 2018, it was announced that Heathrow Airport Ltd, the owner and operator of Heathrow Express, had come to an agreement with Great Western Railway to take over the running of the service between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport, beginning in August 2018. From December 2019, GWR would then run the service using a dedicated pool of 12 modified Class 387 units from its own fleet. Former operations Thameslink The first Thameslink unit entered service in December 2014 with all in service by July 2015. They were operated by Thameslink on services between Bedford and Brighton. These trains have now been transferred to Great Northern working services from Kings Cross to Peterborough and Cambridge/King's Lynn. Accidents *387 117 collided with the buffer stops on platform 9 at London King's Cross station, on 15 August 2017. Fleet details One unit so far has been named: * 387124 - "Paul McCann" References External links Category:Bombardier Transportation multiple units Category:British Rail electric multiple units